Midday Report: MetLife Jumps on Spinoff Plans; Crude Oil Falls

U.S. stocks fell into the red after opening higher following a disappointing weekly read on crude inventories. Crude oil gave back most of its earlier gains this morning to trade under $31 a barrel again. Microsoft (MSFT) climbed after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to OVERWEIGHT from EQUAL WEIGHT. Analysts pointed to Microsoft's growing position in the cloud computing market. MetLife (MET) jumped after announcing plans to sell or spin off its U.S. retail business into a separate entity. The insurance said the independent company would compete more effectively and allow MetLife to benefit from reduced capital requirements. CSX (CSX) fell after missing sales estimates in its fourth quarter. The railroad company faced slowing growth as a drop in commodity prices lowered coal delivery volumes. TheStreet's Keris Lahiff reports from Wall Street.